He led the way from the forest into the scrub, the rest of the party forming a compact column behind him. Keeping an eye fixed on the clump behind which the Tubus had disappeared, he made straight for the fort.
As yard after yard of the ground was covered, he became more and more hopeful of gaining the shelter of the walls unmolested. But when the party was within less than half a mile of their goal there were shouts in the distance. Immediately afterwards, from the forest on the left, a cloud of horsemen dashed out and galloped straight towards them. At the same time a smaller party, farther ahead, rode diagonally across the open ground to cut them off.
It was a critical moment. There was just time, Royce thought, to reach the small belt of woodland below the hillock. Calling on the carriers to hurry, he placed the Hausas to guard their flank.
"Tell the men to go straight up to the fort," he said to John, adding to Challis: "We must try to keep the enemy off until the men are safe."
Spurred on by fear, the carriers quickened their pace. The Tubus, uttering fierce yells, dashed on, firing their guns aimlessly. Tense with anxiety, Royce measured with his eye the distances between his party, the woodland, and the horsemen, and it was with a gasp of relief that he gained the trees while the Tubus were still a hundred yards away.
The two bands of horsemen closed in, and rode towards the woodland. At the edge of the belt Royce had drawn up his little party of riflemen. They fired two volleys in quick succession at the charging crowd. Remembering what they had suffered in the previous attacks, the Tubus, seeing several of their numbers fall, checked their horses and withdrew a short distance.
"Goruba isn't with them," said Royce.
But at that moment the tall negro came galloping from the rear, and, brandishing a huge scimitar, began to harangue his hesitating men.
"Come!" said Royce quietly.
Without waiting to see the inevitable result of Goruba's furious words, he withdrew his men quickly through the wood, splashed through the little stream that bathed the foot of the hillock, and climbed up to the fort. The carriers had already disappeared within the walls.
"Only by the skin of our teeth!" panted Challis, as he stumbled into the entrance.
"And this is only the beginning of things!" returned Royce. "What is to follow?"
Tired out by their long march on insufficient food, the men were in no condition to withstand a determined attack; and Royce felt that all was lost if Goruba pushed on at once at the head of his men.
But apparently Goruba had no such intention. He led his men, indeed, almost to the base of the hillock; but then, discovering that the retiring party had entered the fort, he swung round to the left, rode along the bank of the stream, and disappeared among the trees a quarter of a mile away.
"That gives us a breathing space," said Royce. "It won't last long. If Goruba was savage at finding me alone here, he will be still more enraged now. Besides, he can't afford to own himself beaten. If the natives in the district were to learn that the dreaded Tubus are not invincible, his prestige would be gone. You may be sure that he is determined to destroy us."
"This place is half in ruins," said Challis, who had thrown himself down, and looked pale and worn. "If he came on in earnest, we should be wiped out. He must have three or four hundred men with him."
"It's clear that he has learnt respect for our rifles. And he needn't hurry. All he has to do is to invest us, and in a short time he can starve us out. Our food won't last more than about ten or twelve days, however economical we are. I see John is getting a meal ready. When the men have had a feed and a rest, we had better set some of them to strengthen our defences."
"It's very lucky that we have got our camp equipment."
"Yes; I only wish we had a few more spades. We must build up an earthwork where the walls are broken down, and with only three spades it will take a long time."
"And the Tubus can snipe the men as they work."
"I don't think they will do much damage. Their weapons appear to be poor, and they are certainly not good shots.... I'm sorry I led you into this mess, Tom."
"Tosh! I'm glad. I've had a very easy, comfortable life up to the present, and I'm inclined to think too much comfort is bad for one. Hardship and danger test a man, and it's up to us to show that we've something of the old British spirit left."
Here John came up with some tinned meat on an enamelled plate and a few biscuits.
"Boys want water, sah," he said. "Very dry."
"Perhaps there is a well in the place," Challis suggested.
"I'll go and see," said Royce. "Stay where you are—you need rest more than I do."
In a courtyard in the centre of the fort he discovered a well, but it was filled up with rubbish.
"There's nothing for it but to go down to the stream," he said, returning to Challis.
"A risky job, in full view of the Tubus," his friend answered.
"We must chance that. Without water we can't hold out a day. If only two or three creep down on the north side they may escape notice. All the Tubus appear to be on the south."
"We two had better do it, with John."
"Not a bit of it! John shall go, and Gambaru; but only one of us. It won't do for both to risk being potted."
"Well, I'll go," said Challis. "You are the boss; besides, you're a better shot than I."
"But, hang it, man! you've already been wounded, and I'm without a scratch. Your job is to get perfectly fit again in the shortest possible time. John, go and collect all the things that will hold water. There's our collapsible pail; you can take a meat tin or two. Hunt about the place on the chance of finding something else."
"Look here, Hugh," said Challis, rising, "I insist on taking a hand."
"Rot, I tell you! If I'm boss, you'll have to obey orders."
"I won't!"
"Mutiny, by Jove! This won't do, Tom. To settle matters without squabbling, we'll toss for it. Heads, I go; tails, you."
He spun a coin.
"Tails!" cried Challis.
"Done you! It's heads," said Royce lifting his hand.
"I might have known it—you always win the toss," Challis grumbled.
"Yes, I was born lucky," said Royce equably. "But you shan't be unemployed. Keep an eye lifting; if you see any attempt to interfere with us, you know what you must do."
John meanwhile had collected all the vessels of any size that would hold water. In addition to the collapsible pail, he had two empty meat tins which he had connected by a cord. In one of the rooms of the fort he had found a few earthenware pots, some broken and useless, one perfect, two or three with the handles chipped off.
"A rather miscellaneous lot," said Royce, viewing the collection. "But they'll do. Just sling a cord round the necks of those that have lost their handles, John. We'll take two apiece. They'll hold enough for the present."
Their preparations were soon completed. Royce carried the pail and the two meat tins; each of the Hausas had two earthen vessels hanging by a cord over his shoulders.
Royce led the way through the building to the dilapidated wall on the north side.
"Take a good look round," he said to John. "Do you see any of the Tubus?"
John scanned the prospect from left to right. Far to the left was a patch of woodland; then a stretch of open country dotted with bushes, extending to another clump of trees almost in their front. To the right of this the ground was again open, up to the forest from which they had recently emerged.
"No Tubus, sah," said John. "Dey all plenty afraid."
"I hope they are. Now then, down to the stream with me. It will only take ten minutes there and back."
They climbed over the broken wall, and ran down the hill, making use of the sparse bushes for cover. Meanwhile Challis, unknown to Royce, had brought all the rest of the Hausas except one to the north side, and posted them there with their rifles. The last man he had left at the south side to keep a watch on the clump of trees behind which the Tubus had withdrawn.
Royce had gone three parts of the way down the hill when there was a shout in the distance, followed by a shot. He glanced ahead quickly, but none of the enemy was to be seen. A little patch of smoke hung over the trees about a quarter of a mile beyond the stream.
"They mean to surround us, then," he thought.
He quickened his pace, dodging from bush to bush, and calling to the Hausas to hurry, taking all possible cover. Since the enemy had not yet come out into the open, there might be time to fill the vessels and return before there was any serious danger.
The three men dashed down to the stream, dipped their vessels, and in less than half a minute turned back to ascend the hill. Another shot rang out, and from the wall above a volley flashed.
"Good man!" thought Royce.
Then he became aware that one of the meat tins was leaking badly. By the time he reached the fort all the water it contained would have run away.
"Botheration!" he said to himself, quite forgetting his danger in the annoyance caused by this discovery.
But a moment later he knew that the danger was even greater than he had supposed. From his left came a din of lusty shouting. He heard a single rifle-shot, farther away than the volley which had just been fired. The meaning of it flashed upon him. The main body of the Tubus, warned by the shout and the shots, had left the position to which they had retired, and were dashing across the open to attack the fort on the south side.
Behind him, too, the enemy was coming on. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that a small band of horsemen has issued from the wood and were galloping towards him.
"Quick, boys!" he cried.
But the weight of the vessels and the awkwardness of carrying them caused them to make slow progress up the hill. Shots began to fly around them. There were answering volleys from the wall of the fort, but Royce knew by the sound that some of the men who had fired before had been recalled to defend the south side.
With the Hausas he staggered on, panting for breath. It seemed a miracle that he had not yet been hit. If the Tubus had dismounted and taken aim, not one of the three would have been left alive. But, true to their fighting method, they fired recklessly as they rode, no doubt hoping to ride the fugitives down.
At his right hand Royce heard a crash. A bullet had struck one of the earthen vessels carried by John. It was shattered. The loss of weight released the pot at the other end of the cord, and this, too, fell to the ground and was shivered to fragments.
Next moment Gambaru, who was a few paces ahead of Royce, staggered and fell. A yell of triumph rang out behind, and the Tubus rode through the stream and dashed up the hill in pursuit undaunted by the shots of the diminished band at the wall.
Gambaru did not rise. John, after his vessels had been broken, had run on, and was now almost at the wall. Royce did not hesitate. Water was precious, but more precious was the life of a man. Setting down the pail and the tins, he ran to Gambaru, stooped over him, and, discovering that he was wounded in one of his legs, helped him to rise, and assisted him to limp up the hill.
During these few moments the enemy, though the pace of their horses was checked by the incline, had rapidly diminished the gap between them and their expected victims. They had ceased to fire. It was only a question of seconds and the white man would be a prisoner in their hands.
But Royce was warned by their exultant shouts Glancing for a moment behind, he saw a dozen ferocious negroes within twenty yards of him.
"Crawl up!" he said to Gambaru.
Then, drawing his revolver, he turned to face the enemy.
When Royce turned to face the enemy, the foremost of them was only twenty yards away, urging his horse up the slope. Behind him two score of his comrades were riding up, in no sort of order.
Royce was conscious of hearing shots from behind, and of seeing two or three of the negroes reel from their saddles. Then the firing ceased, and at the same time all the Tubus leapt from their horses, and, while some held the animals, the others rushed onward on foot. They had perceived that on horseback they presented larger targets to the riflemen behind the wall. These latter could no longer fire, because Royce was now directly in line between them and the enemy.
FACING THE FOEFACING THE FOE
Steadily awaiting their onset, Royce refrained from firing until the first man was no more than a dozen yards distant. Then he fired three shots in rapid succession, bringing down a man with each. But the rest did not quail. With strident yells they pressed about him, trusting in their numbers.
It was a desperate situation. Royce had only three more shots in his revolver, and he hesitated to expend his last available resources. The Tubus had few firearms, but their spears were even more formidable weapons, and against these he had no defence. He fired for the fourth time, and a fourth victim fell. Then a spear pierced his left shoulder, and he only escaped the point of another by pistolling the negro as he was in the act of thrusting.
He was about to fire his last shot, feeling that in another moment the end would come, when he heard, half unconsciously, a fierce shout behind him, and became the centre of a wild scrimmage. John, who had almost reached the wall of the fort, had turned, and, seeing his master's plight, had charged down the hill, knife in hand, into the thick of the crowd. He was a big man, and the impact of his weight overthrew two of the enemy, who staggered against their comrades, and relieved the pressure on Royce.
JOHN TO THE RESCUEJOHN TO THE RESCUE
Seizing that brief moment, Royce snatched a spear from the hand of one of the stumbling negroes, and stood beside the faithful Hausa. But the odds were overwhelmingly against them. John's sudden onset had created only a momentary diversion. The whole crowd of Tubus were flinging themselves upon the two men, when there was a second and a louder shout. A dozen stalwarts, headed by Challis hurled themselves into themêléeand laid about them lustily with clubbed rifles.
For a few instants the Tubus strove with fierce courage to stem this tempestuous assault. Then they gave way, turned about, and rushed down the hill towards their horses, grouped at the base. Challis and his men took a heavy toll as they swept along. The men holding the horses were seized with fright, and soon there was a wild stampede back to the shelter of the wood.
Challis was careful not to press the pursuit too far. Before the enemy had time to rally, he led his men up the hill and assisted Royce to gain the wall. John carried the pail of water, which was the only one of their vessels they brought safely home.
"Thanks, old man," said Royce, when Challis returned to him. "It was a very near thing."
"It's better to be born lucky than rich, they say," said Challis; "and certainly it was a great piece of luck that I was able to intervene at the critical moment. I had taken half the men to the other side, to repel what seemed to be an attack there; but the Tubus evidently assumed that their friends had a good thing on this side, for they swerved to the right. Look, they have just joined the others in the wood."
"They have more bravery than generalship, that's clear," said Royce.
"Yes, there are enough of them to crush us to nothing, if they were properly led."
"There are more of them than ever. Other parties must have joined them. The odds are desperate. We are only two score, all told, and less than half have rifles."
"We have the walls, at any rate. The most necessary thing is to strengthen those as well as we can."
"I must attend to your arm first," said Challis. "You can't any longer say that you haven't a scratch."
"It's not much more," said Royce, looking at his sleeve as Challis gently drew his coat off.
"More than you think. It's a nasty gash. Thank goodness we've got our medical stores safe."
He dressed the wound, and bound it up with lint; gave the same attention to Gambaru; then, placing a man on guard at each end of the fort, they sat down to discuss their position more fully.
It seemed likely that by diligent work they could strengthen their defences considerably. But for the difficulty as to water, provisions, and ammunition, they might hope to tire the enemy out, if he remained persistent. The difficulty was a very grave one. The water in the pail gave them only about a cupful each, and a second attempt to fetch more from the stream might be disastrous. Their provisions, on half rations, might last a fortnight; and, with the enemy so near, there was little chance of replenishing the larder. The ammunition amounted to about three hundred rounds per rifle—scarcely more than enough for one day's hard fighting.
"I wonder whether they will stick to it," said Challis. "What can their object be?"
"Hardly booty," replied Royce. "They know very well what our possessions are—certainly not worth heavy losses in acquiring them. It must be a question of prestige; they're afraid all their victims will rise against them if they fail here. What do you say, John? Why don't these Tubus let us alone?"
John scratched his close-clipped woolly poll and looked worried. Then he suddenly brightened.
"Dey bad plenty wicked fellas, all same," he said, with the air of one who has solved a knotty problem.
"Oh, well, that would account for anything," said Royce with a smile. "At any rate, I can think of no other explanation than the one I have suggested."
"You may be right," said Challis; "but I can't help thinking there is some other reason which we know nothing about. Time will show, perhaps."
As after events proved, Challis's guess was nearer the truth than his friend's.
During the remainder of the day there was no further attack, and Royce took advantage of the enemy's inactivity to carry out his idea of strengthening the defences. He set all the men except those on sentry duty to fill up the gaps in the broken walls, partly with earth, partly with fragments of brick and stone from the interior of the building. Fortunately, the bastions at the four corners of the fort were in good preservation, being constructed of stone. These would prove useful for enfilading fire, if the enemy should make a really determined assault.
At nightfall it occurred to Challis that they might make another attempt to get water.
"We could steal down in the dark without being seen," he said. "Besides, I've read somewhere that the negro races don't care about fighting by night. They're as much afraid of the dark as any little nervous kid—as I used to be myself ages ago."
"You don't mean it!" said Royce chaffingly.
"It's true, though. I used to lie awake for hours, fancying all sorts of hideous creatures were floating about the room, and cowering under the bedclothes in sheer terror. So much so that they gave me a light at last—and then it was worse!"
"How was that?"
"Why, they gave me one of those wretched little paraffin lamps with a very small round wick, and it used to smoke horribly and fill the room, and the smell and stuffiness caused the most dreadful nightmares—at least, that's what my mother said."
"More likely they were due to heavy suppers."
"We are safe here on that score, at any rate! ... Well, the negroes, being afraid to move in the dark, are not likely to molest us; so I vote we try for water to-night."
"John must collect some more pots, then, if he can. We'll have a shot at it."
Challis's confidence was borne out by the event. In company with John and Kulana, he stole down to the stream twice in succession, and they brought back enough water to last three or four days. Royce kept watch at the wall, and the water-carriers moved so quietly that, the night being pitch dark, he was unable either to see or to hear them beyond twenty paces.
The night was quite undisturbed, and every member of the party except the Englishmen had several hours of continuous sleep. Royce and Challis had agreed to take each two spells of sleep and two of watching, alternately; but Royce was kept wakeful by the pain of his wound, though he never let Challis know it.
When morning dawned, they looked out eagerly over the country, in hope that the enemy had gone away. For some little time it appeared that this was the case. Not a glimpse of the turbaned warriors was caught. But presently John's lynx eyes detected a movement among the distant trees which he declared was too violent to be caused by small animals, and too gentle to be caused by elephants; and a few minutes later the whinny of a horse proved his sagacity. The enemy had not retired.
But it became apparent that, whatever their motive might be, they were determined to press the siege. Taught by experience to respect the rifles of the garrison and the fearlessness of the white men, they did not venture on to the more or less open sides of the hill. But they could be seen working round the fort under cover of the woodland and the Englishmen came to the conclusion that they had formed three camps, each about six hundred yards from the walls and about twice that distance from each other.
That a watch was continually kept on the fort from these camps was clear from an occasional shot fired as a party of the enemy passed over the intervening spaces.
"It pleases them, I suppose, and doesn't hurt us," said Royce. "A negro with a gun in his hand must let it off, usefully or not."
"But they mean a serious investment," said Challis gravely. "They intend to reduce us by hunger and thirst."
"We must tackle the problem in bits," said Royce. "Take the ammunition question first; I'll give orders that the men are never to fire except at the word of command—yours or mine."
"The water supply is really the most urgent matter," returned Challis. "The Tubus are sure to discover our night sallies by and by, and then they'll no longer be safe. What about clearing out the well?"
"A good idea. We'll set about that as soon as possible. Then the food; that's only next in importance. It depends on the enemy's patience. If they are in no hurry, they can starve us out without incurring any loss by direct assault."
"And I see no chance of foraging, still less of getting any help. It's not a cheerful prospect."
"Well, we must put the best face on it. Our Hausas are jolly good, and they trust us completely. We must keep up their pecker at all costs."
With considerable labour they managed to clear the rubbish with which the well was choked. The soil beneath it was dry, but on digging farther they struck the underground spring which had originally supplied the well.
"That's first-rate!" cried Royce. "There's one part of our problem solved. We'll make an embankment, to keep the water within bounds, and have no further anxiety on that score."
Their next step was to partition the building among the various sections of the company. Royce and Challis took up their quarters in the room in which the former had slept on the occasion of his first visit. The Hausas were given a larger chamber near the south wall, and the rest of the party a half-roofed enclosure at the other end. The rainy season not having commenced, the natives would not be likely to suffer from their partial exposure.
The fort, small as it was, was too large to be defended by forty men against serious attack. To make the most of his garrison, Royce arranged that each man should have about three yards of wall to defend. If the enemy should pluck up resolution to make a simultaneous assault on all sides, they were numerous enough to throw eight or ten men against every one of the garrison, and the odds were more than sufficient for success.
The only weapons available for B Company, as Challis called the released prisoners, were the tools included in their camp equipment—mallets, hatchets, hammers, a saw, and a few tent pegs.
Though so ill provided, Royce thought that in day time the defence would have a sporting chance. The rifles could take toll of the enemy while they were advancing over the three or four hundred yards of fairly open ground beneath the fort; and even if the attack were pushed home to the walls, it would be possible to reinforce the men in the quarter where the assault was hottest.
A night attack would be much more difficult to meet. Covered by the darkness, the enemy might approach to within a few yards of the walls without being detected, if they moved quietly; without suffering much loss, if they were heard. At the walls their numbers would tell far more effectually than in daylight. With such odds in their favour, it would seem impossible to keep them out. And if once they got in, the garrison must inevitably be overwhelmed.
But the Englishmen had little fear of a night attack. It was more likely that the Tubus would move in the twilight of early morning. This would be little less formidable. They might creep a long way up the hill before they were seen, and the chance of checking their rush would be small.
From the defensive point of view the weakest spot in the surroundings of the fort was a patch of rocky scrub-covered ground about a hundred and fifty yards away on the north-east side. It provided good cover for an advance up the hill, and left only a short distance for the final charge. From the attackers' point of view the disadvantage of this spot was that it was small in extent, and would give cover to only a limited number of men.
The day having passed undisturbed, Royce could not help feeling a little anxious about the night. What if the Tubus should attack, after all? He decided to keep half the garrison on guard while the rest slept, and to send three or four of the most trustworthy Hausas some way down the hill to act as scouts and give warning of any movement of the enemy.
Both he and Challis, during their spells of watching, went round and round the walls with the regularity of soldiers doing sentry-go. Eyes and ears were tensely on the alert; not a sound escaped them. The little various noises made by birds, insects, and small animals darting through the scrub were sometimes smothered by sounds from the distant camp. At one time the din was so loud that Challis, who was on duty at the moment, was almost on the point of awakening Royce. But he reflected that warriors intending a night attack, even though savages, would have the common-sense to move quietly, and he took himself to task for what he considered a tendency to panic.
"I mustn't get jumpy," he said to himself; "but this is a great change from camping on Salisbury Plain."
In the morning, as soon as the sky began to lighten, Royce set the men to work again on repairing the walls. Presently he caught sight of some of the enemy in the distance. They were evidently watching the fort. A little later one of them fired, and at odd times during the morning there was fitful sniping whenever the workers allowed themselves to be seen above the walls. But no one was hit, and the Hausas' contempt for the Tubus' marksmanship was voiced by John.
"Dey good for nuffin, sah," he said. "You hold a bottle, me hit him; dem fellas no can hit a house."
Working in squads, the men had by midday completely blocked up the gateway, and repaired all the breaches that were dangerous.
"I feel better now," said Royce, as he sat with Challis, eating the scanty meal which had to serve them for dinner. "Of course, they could still take the place by a determined rush; but, if they attempt it, they'll suffer more heavily than if they had had the sense or the pluck to come on before we had finished."
"They'll play a waiting game," said Challis. "How long will the grub last, do you think?"
"We can eke it out for ten days or so, by going short. I wonder if one of us could run the gauntlet and make for the nearest British post?"
"It would take more than ten days to get there. Everybody would starve before help came. Besides, there are only about a dozen men in charge, and they wouldn't be strong enough to undertake an expedition such a long distance, and fight their way through some hundreds of horsemen."
"How many do you think they really muster?"
"I've never had a good enough view of them in mass; but, at a guess, I should say six hundred or so."
"They'll take some feeding."
"Yes, but they have the whole country to forage in, and I daresay there are foraging parties out in all directions. They may bring their total number up to a thousand."
"Well, old sport, if we can manage to stick it with our forty, we shall deserve at least a line or two in history."
"Skittles! I'd give a good deal not to be mentioned in your history!"
"'One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name.'"
"D'you call this glorious?"
"Don't you? I don't mean that it's glorious to lick a crowd of heathens, but I do think it's a fine thing to have been able to win the confidence of our forty men."
"So it is, and it will be a finer thing to show that we deserve it."
The day passed; dusk fell. The arrangements for the night were as before. Royce took the first watch, with half the garrison.
Challis, leaving him at his post on the north-east bastion, made his way along the passages that separated the several chambers of the building, towards his quarters, picking his way carefully in order not to trip over the fallen brick and other debris that strewed the floor.
Turning a corner, he saw in the half-light, a little way ahead, the figure of a negro cross his path from left to right. At first he thought it was John or Kulana, the only men who might have any reason to be in the neighbourhood of the white men's quarters. John looked after the food, which had been placed in an adjacent chamber for security; Kulana acted as body servant.
But it immediately occurred to Challis that neither of the men had any business there at this hour. Then he remembered that John was actually on duty with Royce. Was it possible that some other member of the party was making a private raid on the stores?
He hurried on after the man, who had passed the room in which the stores were kept and was going in the direction of the well-yard. His back was towards Challis—a broad back, belonging to a man of huge stature.
"Great snakes!" Challis inwardly ejaculated.
He quickened his pace. The man heard his steps, and glanced round; then dashed through a ruined doorway leading to the well-yard.
Challis gave a shout and rushed after him. It was now dark inside the building, and he groped about without finding the negro. His shout had brought Royce up at a run.
"What is it?" he cried anxiously.
"A strange nigger—a big fellow—Goruba?" said Challis.
"Surely not!" said Royce, flashing his electric torch. "There's no one here.'"
"He's got away. We must search the place."
Together they scoured the whole building; no trace of the man could be found. None of the garrison had left his post; every man declared solemnly that no one had entered from outside, nor gone out from within.
"If I didn't know you, old man," said Royce, "I should say you had a fit of the jumps. You think it was Goruba?"
"It looked very much like that big fellow who collared me. But how could he have got in or out?"
"It's decidedly rummy. You remember Goruba came on me suddenly, and John hadn't seen him. Strange that you should have had almost the same experience!"
"What did he come for, if it was Goruba? To spy out the position?"
"Not easy in the dark. I confess it beats me. How did the fellow get in? It was hardly dark outside, and our men must have seen him, one would think. Yet I believe them."
"We had better search for a secret passage to-morrow, though I can't think we should have missed it if there is one. One thing is certain—Goruba has some interest in this fort which we don't know. That explains the persistence of the Tubus."
"I wonder! Well, we can't do anything to-night. I only hope it hasn't made our men jumpy. It's an uncanny thing to find an enemy in your midst unawares."
"I am a silly ass," said Challis, as the two returned to the bastion.
"Why, what's the matter?" asked Royce, smiling at his companion's disgusted tone.
"Why did I shout? If I had held my tongue, we might have kept this matter from the men. As it is, they are sure to have an attack of nerves."
"Oh, well! don't worry about it. We can't always do absolutely the best thing. It's a mystery how the fellow got in, and what he was up to. We must watch him if he tries it again."
As Challis feared, the men were restless. Nobody had much sleep that night, and the Englishmen were unfeignedly glad when day dawned.
The day passed wearisomely. The enemy were seen moving about among the trees, but there was no attack.
"You see that spur of forest yonder?" said Royce in the afternoon, pointing to a clump on the north-east side of the fort. "It's only about two hundred yards away, and would be a capital vantage point for an attack. Yet it's the only bit of woodland which the enemy don't appear to occupy. I wonder why?"
"Perhaps they think it's a little too near us," suggested Challis. "It's within practically point-blank range of our rifles."
"But there are so many of them that they could afford to try a rush from that point. It's very strange. Barring an occasional sniping shot towards evening, nothing has happened from that quarter, and the sniper has never done any damage."
"The Tubus' main camp is only a little to the north of it. They may not think it worth while to occupy the second and smaller clump.... Tom, I've been thinking."
"The same old problem?"
"Yes, the part we are no nearer to solving—the food supply. It is clear we are in for a siege. The men will soon get weary, as our stores diminish. We shall be starved out inside a fortnight, even if the men don't lose heart and begin to clamour."
"You are thinking of making a sally?"
"Not exactly. Look at the position. If we stay, we starve; if we break out in a body, we shall be pursued and surrounded. But why shouldn't some of us slip out and try to get help?"
"I thought we had settled that. The nearest British station is too far away; to get to the nearest French one we should have to cross the Tubus' country."
"But what about the natives of the neighbourhood?"
"All who are not massacred are in a stew of fright, I expect. They wouldn't lift a hand against the Tubus."
"Not if one of us, either you or I, applied to them? The white man has a certain prestige, you know. Anyhow, I think it ought to be tried; in fact, it must be. I might revisit that old chap who sold us provisions."
"Or I might. It's my turn."
"Hang turns! I know the old chap."
"Why shouldn't I have the pleasure of his acquaintance? But, to avoid the eternal dispute, let's toss again."
"Right-o! I always win the toss. Heads!"
"Tails it is! Your luck is out. Fate has more respect for turns than you. I'll go this very night."
"You will want John as interpreter."
"It's a pity to reduce the garrison by two rifles, but I'm afraid it can't be helped."
"And you had better take one of B Company as guide. They are no good with the rifle. I'll get John to choose a man."
"There's one advantage to you—you'll have three fewer mouths to feed. We'll only take a little with us, and trust to chance to pick up more on the way, if we need it."
"You must wait till the moon sets. That will be rather late to-night."
"Yes. You'll let us down over the wall on the north-east, towards that clump of trees you mentioned. There's apparently no danger there, and we'll soon be under cover."
"The idea is to bring back reinforcements, of course. They must carry their own supplies. I don't think much of your chances, but I'm sure it's worth trying."
"Whether we succeed or fail, we'll come back by night. We must arrange a signal, so that you don't pot us by mistake."
"John imitates the jackal's cry to the life. If I hear three barks in quick succession, I shall know it's you."
John was quite ready to accompany "Massa Chally." Without imputing cowardice to the head-man, it is certain that he thought the plight of the garrison desperate, and was not sorry to take his chance outside rather than within the works. He selected as guide a strapping young Kanura named Mogra, who was well acquainted with the country.
They had to wait until long past midnight for the setting of the moon. Challis did not regret the delay. By the time they could start the Tubus would probably be well asleep. Every night the glow of their camp-fires could be seen at different spots round the fort, and sounds were heard far into the night from each of the camps.
On this occasion it seemed that the enemy turned in even later than usual. It was at least an hour after the moon's disappearance that silence fell upon the country. Then the little band were let down by a rope gently over the wall, on the side farthest from the gateway.
Dark though it was, Challis thought it well to crawl down the hillock until level ground was reached. Then the three stole along under cover of the bushes towards the patch of woodland.
Half-way across, Challis inadvertently kicked a loose stone, and paused, listening anxiously. There was no sound of alarm. They reached the clump, and crept through it, leaving the enemy's camp on the left, and meeting no obstacle except the undergrowth, in which they were all experienced travellers.
"I don't see why we shouldn't all have got out," said Challis to himself, feeling half-inclined to run back and persuade Royce to join him.
But the hopelessness of such an attempt was borne in upon him at once by a sound on his left. The enemy's horses were snuffling and pawing the ground, apparently between him and the campfire. Even if the garrison could leave the fort quietly enough to escape instant detection, they must move slowly, burdened with packs as they would be. Their tracks would be discovered in the morning, and the mounted Tubus could overtake them in a few hours.
Challis had just dismissed the idea of a general exodus as impracticable, when the slight sounds made by the horses swelled to a considerable noise. The snuffling became snorting and whinnying, and there mingled with it one or two human calls. Could the flight have been discovered?
Mogra was leading, with John close behind, Challis third of the line. At the commotion the guide was seized with panic, and was bolting blindly forward, when John dashed up behind him, caught him by the neck, and bade him, in language which he understood, not to be a fool.
They went on, carefully picking their way through the scrub. The noise on their left rear increased. They heard numbers of horses galloping away to the north and north-east, and many men shouting. Challis wondered whether the Tubus had been drawn away by sudden news from their own country, or by some false alarm. Then a gust of wind striking him from the right suggested a more likely explanation. The wind was carrying his scent to the camp. Unused to the scent of a white man, the horses had taken fright and stampeded, followed hot-foot by their owners.
In order to get well out of the current of possible pursuit, Challis ordered Mogra to bear more to the east. They pushed on steadily for two hours. By this time dawn was approaching.
In the half-light they suddenly caught sight of four or five big shapes moving slowly through the morning mist across their path some little distance ahead. At the spot where they had arrived there were no bushes to give cover, and Challis ordered the men in a whisper to fling themselves flat on the ground.
There was no cause for alarm, but rather for self-congratulation. In less than a minute they recognised the misty shapes as riderless horses.
"What luck!" thought Challis. "Provided their riders are not anywhere near, John," he said, "you and Mogra must catch three of those horses. If I try, they will scent me and bolt. I'll keep guard."
The two negroes set off. Challis watched their tactics admiringly. They crept on all fours round to leeward of the horses, which were grazing on low-growing plants, and drew near to them by almost imperceptible degrees. Suddenly they sprang up, dashed forward, and had two halters in their hands.
Mogra led the two captured horses to Challis, while John went ahead after the others, which had galloped away. In ten minutes he returned, all smiles and triumph.
"Berry fine horse for massa," he cried. "Me tink dis one no good, dat one no good; massa must have bestest; here him are, sah, sure and sartin."
It was a fine grey mare, thin fetlocked, slender in the flanks, with a noble head. Challis tried to mount, but the mare bucked and curvetted, with evident dislike of handling by a white man. Challis's difficulties with it amused John, whose horse was perfectly docile. A little patient coaxing and the gift, happily inspired, of a roasted nut from Challis's wallet, reconciled the animal to her new master; and Challis found himself mounted on the best bit of horseflesh he had ever had the luck to bestride.
"Now, then, Mogra!" he called.
Mogra was bashful. The third horse stood quite still, as if inviting the man to mount; but he had never been on horseback, and stood holding the halter with an air of weighing the chances of getting safely into the saddle.
John rocked with laughter, when Mogra, at last plucking up courage, fumbled for the stirrup and almost fell under the horse's belly, still clinging to the halter.
"Get down and help him," said Challis, anxious to be off.
John dismounted and hoisted Mogra into the saddle by main force.
"Him silly chap, sah," he said grinning. "Tumble off, sure 'nuff."
But Mogra did not tumble off. Now that he was on, he determined to stick fast. Gripping the animal with his bare knees, wearing an expression compounded of grim determination and the fear of sudden death, he no doubt owed his stability to the placid temperament of his steed. Challis set a slow pace, so that the man might grow accustomed to his unfamiliar position, and the three rode on together.
Challis had already decided not to make for the village at which Royce had obtained supplies. It lay far on the other side of the fort, and Mogra did not know it. Mogra had suggested that they should go to his own village, which was only a day's march eastward of the fort, and to this Challis had agreed.
On horseback they made better progress than on foot, and soon after midday came in sight of the village. At the first glimpse of it Mogra uttered a wail—there were signs that here, too, the Tubus had been at their desolating work. And in truth, when the horsemen rode into the wide street, their passage was through ruins. Not a house was standing; neither human being nor brute beast was to be seen.
"What has become of all the people?" said Challis. "Surely they can't all have been carried away as slaves?"
"No, sah—old men no good, old women no good," said John. "All gone dead."
"But there are no dead bodies—no remains of any kind," said Challis with a shudder.
John confessed that he, too, was puzzled at this remarkable fact. Turning to Mogra, he demanded, with a sort of remonstrant anger, where all the young man's people were. And then Mogra told a little story.
"In the days of our fathers," he said, "long, long ago, the bad men came to this village even as they have done these few days past, and it is told that my people learnt beforehand of their coming, and went a day's journey to the east, and there took refuge in a cave. I have never been there, nor my father, nor any of the people of his age; but the cave is known to certain of the old men of the village, and it may be that they have led our people there."
John translated this in his own queer way.
"It sounds very romantic," remarked Challis musingly.
"Berry big lie, sah!" said John decisively.
"Come, now, you mustn't call Mogra a liar! Ask him if he can lead us there."
"Him say savvy way little bit, den him go lost," said John, after questioning the man.
"Well, let him try the little bit; there's no harm in that. If he comes to a check, we must trust to luck."
Mogra showed no hesitation at the start; but, after riding for a couple of hours, he declared that he could guide them no farther.
"Does he know what sort of country is round about the cave?" asked Challis.
It was bare and rocky, said Mogra, with hardly any vegetation; but he remembered having heard that one particularly large tree stood in front of the cave.
"We will cast about for that, then," said Challis. "Let us take different directions."
"No, no, no!" said John energetically. "Go all same one way."
"Very well, if you are afraid of our losing one another, we will all go together."
They rode on, searching the country over a wide area; but the afternoon was wearing to evening, and they had still lighted on no trace of the cave. Challis began to think they had better give it up and make for another village before night enveloped them.
The horses were growing tired, and showed signs of uneasiness which Challis was puzzled to account for. The explanation came with startling suddenness. On rounding a rocky eminence they saw, only a hundred yards away, two lions lying side by side.
The trembling horses reared, backed, then turned tail and fled in terror. Mogra was thrown almost at once, and neither Challis nor John could check their horses for a considerable distance. When at last they regained control over them, they returned, afraid that Mogra might have been pursued by the beasts and by this time be torn in pieces.
They were relieved in a few minutes to see him running towards them at the speed of a hunted deer. There was no sign of the lions; Challis conjectured that they were digesting a heavy meal. Mogra was shaking with fright, but unhurt except for a bruise or two. His horse had disappeared.
As they stood discussing what to do next, John caught sight of a number of men in the distance. Two or three at the head of the party appeared to be carrying something among them.
"Him say belong him," said John, after a word from Mogra.
"Tell him to call them," Challis commanded. The men turned at Mogra's shout; but they evidently did not recognise him in the distance, and no doubt supposed the horsemen to be Tubus, for they hurried on with every sign of distress.
"Yoi-aloo! Yoi-aloo!" bawled John. "White man! White man! ... Berry silly chaps, sah!"
"Let us ride towards them," said Challis. "Stay! Let Mogra run ahead."
They remained stationary, while Mogra hastened to his friends, who soon came to a halt. Mogra ran back. He explained that they were carrying to the cave the son of their chief, who had been mauled by one of the lions. One of their fellows had already been eaten. They were willing that the white man should accompany them to the cave.
The party reached it just before dark. Challis was surprised to find that its entrance was fully exposed—a large hole in the side of a rocky hill. He concluded that its security lay in its being situated in a desolate region that was unlikely to tempt any raiding party.
An attempt had been made to render it more defensible by blocking up the entrance with trees felled on the hillside. The large tree of which Mogra had spoken, the configuration of the ground, and a few scattered cactus plants screened it from view from a distance.
The entrance was dark, but the interior of the cave was faintly illuminated by torches. When the party entered, the horses being tethered to the tree, the strangers were at first ignored in the general excitement and lamentation over the injuries of the chief's son.
His was the third case in two days. Examining his wounds, the chief, a bearded man of about sixty years, wrung his hands with grief, and the women howled in concert.
It was some time before Challis got an opportunity of explaining through John the object of his visit, of which Mogra had already given his version. On hearing his story, the chief refused to assist him.
"What the white man asks is too hard a thing," he said. "How can I, with only eighty men of fighting age, expect to accomplish anything against a multitude of Tubus? They have guns, we have none; they have horses, we have none. It is too hard a thing."
John expostulated, pleaded, at last threatened; and Challis, perceiving that his well-meant efforts only annoyed the old man and made him more obdurate, decided not to press the matter for the moment. It was something gained that the chief consented to shelter the strangers for the night. For safety's sake they brought the horses in.
During the hours of darkness the lions could be heard roaring in the neighbourhood of the cave. At moments they seemed to be almost at the entrance, and the negroes shivered with terror lest the beasts should break in. They could not light a fire—usually, though not always, effectual in scaring away lions—for fear the glare should betray the position of the cave to the Tubus. It seemed that they had escaped human foes only to fall a prey to foes still more formidable.
Challis passed a very uncomfortable night. The atmosphere of the cave was nauseating. The villagers, more than two hundred in number, had brought many of their cattle with them, and the place, large as it was, was overcrowded.
The foul air, the roaring of the lions outside, the lowing of the cattle within, and his own worried thoughts, combined to banish sleep; and at the first sign of dawn Challis was glad to escape into the fresh air. He took his rifle, and left the cave, to think matters over in the cool freshness of the morning.
It was a pity that, having found Mogra's tribe, he could not avail himself of the eighty fighting men of whom the chief had spoken. Yet he could not think of any argument, any inducement, that was likely to prevail over the old man's reluctance. Apparently, he must travel further in search of help.
Walking along, lost in thought, he came upon a watercourse worn by a small stream in the rocky surface of the hillside. He was on the point of turning back, for walking was aimless except as an aid to thought. But suddenly his eye was caught by a slight movement behind a rock on the far side of the nullah, at this point about eight yards broad and six feet deep.
The object which had attracted his notice was a moving patch of dusky brown. It had disappeared, but a moment later again rose into view. And then Challis was galvanised from meditation into a state of mind keenly practical, for the brownish patch resolved itself into the shaggy head of a lion.
In another moment he perceived a lioness, standing behind and slightly lower than her mate. Both were watching him.
For perhaps five seconds surprise held him spellbound. He stood with fascinated eyes fixed on the lions; they, at first somewhat sleepy looking, were becoming more and more alert, growling with a deep rumble. Then, following the instinct of a sportsman, he raised his rifle, and, aiming at the forehead of the animal he had seen first, he fired.
There was an angry roar; the lion sprang over the low rock, and dashed straight at Challis across the nullah.
Tingling with high-strung excitement, Challis fired again, apparently without effect, and felt that his last moment was come.
But the lion's spring was a few inches short. Just as Challis was nervously fitting a new cartridge, the beast struck the bank of the nullah within two feet of where he was standing, and fell back into the stream.
A FATAL LEAPA FATAL LEAP
Challis seized the opportunity which he could hardly have hoped for. Aiming behind the lion's shoulder, he fired again, and the beast rolled over, clawing the air.
The lioness, meanwhile, sullenly growling, had risen from behind the boulder and was slowly retreating. Challis was almost too flurried to take good aim; but he chanced a shot, again directing it behind the shoulder. He could hardly believe his eyes when the animal dropped without a sound.
"That's something in return for a poor night's lodging," he said to himself as he walked back to the cave.
The first shot had drawn his own men and a number of the villagers to the entrance, and they had witnessed the fall of the dread beasts. Loud shouts acclaimed the white man's prowess. It seemed that the people could not do enough to show their gratitude.
And the chief had now completely changed his mind. Impressed by the slaying of the lions, he was willing to give the help he had formerly refused.
"It is wonderful," he said, spreading his hands. "The white man has slain with his marvellous gun the beasts that slew my people and wounded my son. Shall I not do something in return? Never have I seen such a marvellous deed!"
Challis thanked him. Later on, when he went back and examined the dead lions, he did not think it necessary to inform the chief that the lioness had been killed by what was really a miss. He had aimed behind the shoulder, but he found that the shot had entered at the ear and pierced the brain.
After Challis's adventure with the lions, the villagers, as the way of negroes is, were just as eager to help the white man as they had formerly been reluctant.
A man who, unaided, could kill two lions was surely a very wonderful person. Not even the dreaded Tubus could stand against him. It would be a blessing to the whole countryside if the power of the Tubus were broken. The white man asked their help—he should have it.
The chief ordered all the males of the community to assemble in front of the cave. His eighty fighting-men, splendid specimens of muscular humanity, gathered in a disorderly crowd on one side. Some were almost naked, others wore a sort of shawl folded about them as a Scots shepherd folds his plaid; it left one shoulder bare, and descended to the knee. All carried spears about four feet long.
The other group comprised the boys, the elderly men, and the few weaklings of the tribe.
"I will make Boy Scouts of some of them," said Challis to himself as he viewed them.
The chief led him in and out among the crowd of warriors, pointing to one man as a famous hunter, to another as a mighty thrower of the spear, to a third whose body was scarred with wounds received in fight. He was evidently proud of his men.
"Let the white man take them at once," he said, John interpreting. "They are well fed; they have eaten the flesh of oxen; they are ready even now to follow the killer of lions."
He was as much astonished as disappointed when Challis explained, as tactfully as he could, that he did not yet consider them ready to accompany him back to the fort.
"What more does the white man need?" he asked, somewhat huffily.
Challis reflected for a few moments before replying. He did not quite know how to deal with these ignorant natives, so prompt to take offence and sulk like children. But he was clear in his own mind.
To render effective service against experienced warriors like the Tubus, dashing horsemen armed with guns, accustomed to carry all before them in a wild charge, something more than muscle and goodwill was required.
It was plain that these natives were wholly undisciplined. Challis felt sure that in battle every man acted for himself, without any relation to his comrades, and he had already resolved that they must undergo some sort of elementary training before they could be of any real use.
The matter that worried him was the shortness of time. Royce's provisions might be eked out over a fortnight—what could be done in a fortnight towards training these wild, untutored children of nature?
"You know the Tubus, chief," he said, making up his mind to be frank. "Your people have suffered at their hands—even now you have fled from them. They have horses and guns—you know how helpless your best warriors have been before them. We must change all that. Your men must learn how to fight in such a way that the Tubus' advantages over them are lessened."
This was the gist of his speech, which was very much longer, and expressed in simple words that John could translate. The chief, in spite of the fact that his men had recently run away from the Tubus, seemed annoyed that any doubt was cast on their capacity. But, after a while, he asked sullenly what the white man wished to do.
"First of all, I want you to send messengers to all the friendly villages round about, asking the chiefs to send their best fighting men to join us. Tell them that we are going to fight the Tubus, and put a stop to their evil deeds."
"That shall be done, O white man!"
"Then I want to see what your own men can do with the spear, how they march, and how they attack."
"That shall be done, O white man!"
He gave an order. The warriors formed up, as Challis expected, in single file, and marched thus, lithely as wild animals, before him. At another order they started to run, uttering fierce yells, crowding into an unwieldy mob, and flinging their spears high into the air. The chief watched them proudly, and glanced at Challis as if to say: "Can you wish for anything better than that?"
"It is very good," said Challis, to the chief's great contentment. "Now bring them back; I want to find out which are the best spearmen."
The men, gathering their spears, came running back in a scattered crowd, and collected again in their former shapeless array.
Asking permission from the chief, Challis ordered John to form the men up in line. It was a long and difficult business. No sooner were a few of the negroes placed shoulder to shoulder than one man would step out to see what a particular friend of his was doing some distance away, and showed a good deal of resentment when John hauled him back and explained vigorously that he must not move without leave.
Then another man would find that he had something urgent to say to his mother, among the crowd of women watching the scene curiously, and he would sprint across the ground, engage in animated dialogue with the old woman, and return at his leisure.
John was reduced to despair.
"Silly fellas, sure 'nuff, sah!" he said in dudgeon. "Dey no good—too much fools, all same!"
An idea occurred to Challis. Knowing from his past experience with the Hausas how keenly negroes enter into competition one with another, he ordered John to explain that, if the men kept the line, he would give prizes to the best spearmen as soon as they reached the fort, and make them his own bodyguard.
After the men had gathered into a crowd and squabbled noisily for several minutes, this offer had the desired effect. They allowed themselves to be formed into a line, which, however, all John's efforts could not prevent from gradually assuming a crescent shape. Then, one by one, after several failures to make them act in turn, they threw their spears at the word of command. In this way, Challis selected the twenty men whose cast was the longest and straightest, and they immediately rushed across to the spectators to proclaim their merits.
By this time Challis was very tired.
"Drilling my platoon in the O.T.C. was nothing to this," he said to himself. "How in the world can I make anything of them in a fortnight?"
But after rest and food, he was ready to tackle the work again, and he took heart when he found that the negroes were much more amenable.
The spirit of emulation he had excited among them lightened the task. Every man seemed anxious to win praise from the white man. The idea had got abroad among them that the exercises to which he put them were so much "white man's medicine," something that would have a mystic efficacy when they came in contact with the enemy. As this idea implied unquestioning faith, it was all that Challis required.
He was careful not to keep them too long at one thing. When they had at last seized the idea of a straight line, though still far from successful in achieving it, he set the twenty selected spearmen to compete among themselves, and devoted his attention to the sixty less proficient.
These he determined to turn into pikemen. He got them to cut longer shafts for their spear heads and to sharpen the lower end, so that by the close of the day they were provided with serviceable pikes eight feet long.
The end of the day brought its disappointment. The messengers dispatched by the chief to neighbouring villages returned and reported the complete failure of their mission. Such was the universal dread of the Tubus that no chief was willing to send his men to encounter them. Not even the messengers' report of the lion-killing sufficed to overcome their fears.
"They will sit on the fence," thought Challis. "If we have any success, they'll come tumbling over each other to help. Well, we haven't done so badly for the first day. I must make plans for to-morrow."
He spent that night, not in the fœtid cave, but in the open, protected from wild beasts by a ring of bonfires. After all, he thought, they were too far from the Tubus' camps to attract attention.
Next morning, after repeating the lessons of the previous day, and finding that the men gave much less trouble, he taught them how to extend, moving them up and down with fair success. With John's assistance, he got them to turn right or left at the word of command.
At first they laughed so heartily at the sight of one another moving like teetotums that discipline was in danger of breaking down. Challis himself was amused, thinking how wrathful the loud-voiced drill-instructor at his old school would have been if the boys had taken their drill as lightheartedly as these negroes. But after a time they settled down to learn their new prescription in "white man's medicine," and made the proper movements with creditable smartness.
The next operation was to form three sides of a square—their numbers did not suffice for a full square of any considerable size. This was difficult.
"Do their minds work in curves?" thought Challis despairingly, as the men tended persistently to round the angles and join the ends of the lines.
But even this difficulty was surmounted with patience, and the close of the second day saw him one step nearer the accomplishment of his aim—to train the negroes to sustain the assaults of a mounted enemy.
It was the next stage that he found most difficult of all. A good shot himself, he sighed for rifles, that he might teach the men to shoot. With such obsolete weapons as spears and pikes he felt himself at a loss.
But common sense and recollections of what he had read about Cromwell's army came to his aid. He taught the men forming the three-sided square to stand fast with their pikes planted obliquely in the ground, supported with the left hand, while they held in the right their short stabbing spears.
Meanwhile he practised the twenty selected men in pushing out in advance, casting their spears, and then running back for refuge into the square. The whole force learnt to lie down at the word of command, to rise, to advance, to retire.
In order to accustom them as much as possible to the conditions they would have to meet, he got the chief to send into the neighbourhood to hunt up or purchase horses. Such of the men as could ride he mounted, and he organised sham charges, so that the men on foot grew used to the approach of horses at the gallop.
By the end of the fifth day the negroes had entered into all these exercises with spirit and enjoyment. Nothing pleased them better than the charges of the few horsemen. The spearmen would advance some twenty paces in front of the pikemen, pretend to discharge their spears when the horsemen came within range, then turn and run back between the open ranks of the pikemen, whose weapons were planted at an angle calculated to transfix the oncoming horses and men.
When the spearmen had run behind the pikemen, they would wheel round and discharge another flight of spears. The horsemen carried their sham charge to within a few yards of the spears before they reined up. In their ardour, indeed, they sometimes failed to obey promptly the order to halt, and one or two of them received ugly wounds. But they took these in good part, and, when the day's work was done, were to be seen proudly displaying their injuries to their relatives.
"I only hope they will be as cheerful in the real thing," thought Challis.